Bernard Jason

Jason Bernard might have had a chance at stardom more than 20 years ago, but he didn't want to take the road that led to it. The co-star of today's Lifetime movie "Sophie & the Moonhanger" has been acting since 1961, but the roles offered to most African Americans during the '70s did not appeal to him. "It was the time of the blaxploitation picture and black actors were finally finding work," Bernard explains from his sprawling ranch in Santa Clarita. "Those films were negative and cheaply done."

Jason Bernard might have had a chance at stardom more than 20 years ago, but he didn't want to take the road that led to it. The co-star of today's Lifetime movie "Sophie & the Moonhanger" has been acting since 1961, but the roles offered to most African Americans during the '70s did not appeal to him. "It was the time of the blaxploitation picture and black actors were finally finding work," Bernard explains from his sprawling ranch in Santa Clarita. "Those films were negative and cheaply done."

The fourth annual Southern California all-star basketball games, matching many of the best players in the City and Southern sections, will be played tonight at Cal State Dominguez Hills. The girls' game will start at 6:30, the boys' at 8:30. Two uncommitted college prospects, Kevin Franklin of Woodland Hills Taft and Gary Gray of Granada Hills, will play for the City boys' team, as will J.D.

Bishop Amat High School running back Eric Bieniemy, who scored 30 touchdowns last fall, was named the most valuable player in the Angelus League. Bieniemy has announced that he will attend the University of Colorado next season. Servite wide receiver Nick-John Haiduc was named the league's most valuable offensive player. Haiduc averaged 22.5 yards per reception. League champion Bishop Amat and Servite had eight players selected to the first team.

Servite moved one step closer to defending its Southern Section Division II water polo title with an 8-4 victory over Esperanza in a quarterfinal playoff game Wednesday. The Serra League champions gave a 28-minute clinic at El Dorado High, using their trademark press defense to keep the Aztecs helpless and frustrated. "Defense is going to win the games," Servite Coach Jim Sprague said. "I was especially proud of the play of Mike Rustemeyer, who kept up good pressure on defense."

The Inglewood High boys' basketball team staked its claim as the South Bay's top team Saturday by beating host Redondo, 86-64, in the championship game of 42nd Pacific Shores tournament. The Sentinels last won the 16-team tournament in 1979. "I thought it was very important for us to come out here and win this," Coach Pat Roy said. "We worked very hard during the summer, and we felt that we had to come out and win this to start things."

One game does not a convincing win provide in volleyball, but this was as close as Newport Harbor and Manhattan Beach Mira Costa were going to get in determining the top boys' team in the Southern Section, for now anyway. The only time it will really matter is the playoffs, right? The teams met last Saturday at Redondo in the one-game semifinals of the Redondo-Mira Costa tournament. At stake: A trip to one of the top invitationals of the year, and a chance for No.

An otherwise forgettable season for the North Torrance High football team will at least be memorable for the numbers of wide receiver Eric Hansen. Although the Saxons are 2-6 and have only an outside chance of reaching the playoffs, Hansen is on the verge of becoming the most productive pass catcher for a single season in South Bay history. With 72 catches in eight games, the 6-foot-1, 165-pound senior needs seven catches in North's last two Ocean League games to surpass St.

Rick Hirtensteiner, star center fielder for Pepperdine's West Coast Athletic Conference champions, has been crowned with so many laurels this year that it's a good thing he is not allergic to that form of vegetation. The latest in a long list of honors received by Hirtensteiner, who recently graduated in business administration with a 3.85 grade-point average (on a 4-point scale), came when he was named the WCAC's outstanding senior male student-athlete. Wayne Wright, Pepperdine athletic director, said, "I cannot think of a young man at this institution who has better exemplified the term 'student-athlete.